Apparently two chances to turn things around was enough.
San Joaquin County resident Jason Gaul was released from custody at the San Joaquin County Jail on Friday at the request of the San Joaquin County Public Defender.
It took less than three days before he was arrested for a similar crime – officers found him in a vehicle attempting to steal it – and Sheriff Pat Withrow had no choice but to release him as part of a wave of inmates that can no longer be held in custody while awaiting trial out of fear of COVID-19 spreading through the jail facility.
By Wednesday he was discovered by Stockton Police in a stolen vehicle, and managed to rack enough new charges – grand theft of an automobile, grand theft during a public emergency, committing a crime while released from custody on a felony charge and vandalism – to take away any chance of walking out of the doors of the facility again.
The case highlights the frustrations of law enforcement officials who are concerned that California’s “zero bail” initiative spearheaded by the Judicial Council will create a scenario where criminals won’t face the immediate repercussions necessary to thwart criminal behavior.
But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to stop trying.
During a media video conference on Tuesday, Withrow said that the San Joaquin County District Attorney has expressed a willingness to charge people like Gaul with the crime of looting given the State of Emergency for the State of California and the County of San Joaquin, and charges like those would prevent his immediate release upon being booked into the San Joaquin County Jail.
Law enforcement agencies and district attorney’s offices throughout the state have been vocal this week about how hard the new initiative – which is intended to prevent those who have not been convicted of crimes from unnecessary exposure to the deadly virus – is going to make the day-to-day police work necessary to keeping communities safe.
In a show of solidarity this week, the mayors of all of the cities in Stanislaus County joined forces with the Stanislaus County Sherriff to send a joint message expressing their displeasure with the development.
Withrow said that such an undertaking wasn’t immediately on his radar but noted that individuals and entities are free to share their concerns as they see fit – whether that be a statement to the press of a joint statement released during a public meeting.
Gaul, who was taken into custody by the Delta Regional Auto Theft Team, is currently being held on $125,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton on Friday to answer to the new charges.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
